Histories

Horse-breeders was the name given to the men of substance among the Chalcidians. They fettered as many of these as they took alive and kept them imprisoned with the captive Boeotians. In time, however, they set them free, each for an assessed ransom of two minae. The fetters in which the prisoners had been bound they hung up in the acropolis, where they could still be seen in my time hanging from walls which the Persians' fire had charred, opposite the temple which faces west.

Moreover, they made a dedication of a tenth part of the ransom, and this money was used for the making of a four-horse chariot which stands on the left hand of the entrance into the outer porch of the acropolis and[*](Probably in the open space in front of the old Propylon; there would not have been room for this monument in the new Propylaea, finished in 432 B.C.) bears this inscription:

1. Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens with +Chalcis [23.6083,38.4667] (Perseus) Chalcis and Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia fought,
2. Bound them in chains and brought their pride to naught.
3. Prison was grief, and ransom cost them dear-
4. One tenth to Pallas raised this chariot here.

So the Athenians grew in power and proved, not in one respect only but in all, that equality is a good thing. Evidence for this is the fact that while they were under tyrannical rulers, the Athenians were no better in war than any of their neighbors, yet once they got rid of their tyrants, they were by far the best of all. This, then, shows that while they were oppressed, they were, as men working for a master, cowardly, but when they were freed, each one was eager to achieve for himself.